Tag: photography

These photographs were taken this morning in Mission Valley, in the general area of Hazard Center. It had rained during the night and early morning, and the last remnants of dark clouds were rolling away.

Dark morning rain clouds break for the rising sun.Morning light emerges from behind a bank of clouds.Tree by San Diego River beneath passing rain clouds.Rain on fallen leaves, a spider’s web and bent stems.Blue patch reflected in a building beneath clouds.

Usually I keep my old camera on Auto mode then just aim and shoot. I take a million pics and hope a few come out okay.

This morning, during my walk to work through Mission Valley, I was fortunate to capture some weirdly artistic photographs. I paused a few times on the south side of the San Diego River as the sun rose. The slanting light illuminated patches of red algae, bright green reeds and tangles of dry branches.

San Diego River looks like an Impressionist painting.Red algae and bright green reeds in San Diego River.Morning light on San Diego River and swirls of color.

The above photo of the Shelter Island pier is interesting to me. I like how the angled concrete pilings, reflected on San Diego Bay, seem to project in three dimensions downward into the rippled water.

The light blue structure that you see is vacant. In the past it has been the home of a small fishing store and cafe. To its left you can see an aircraft hangar at Naval Air Station North Island.

Distant Coronado Islands seen beyond the Shelter Island pier.

When you stand on Shelter Island and gaze south beyond the pier, you can spy the distant Coronado Islands on a clear day.

The Coronado Islands (not to be confused with nearby Coronado) are four barren islets just west of Tijuana, Mexico. The home of numerous sea birds, sea lions and sea elephants, they are mostly uninhabited. A few Mexican caretakers live on the largest island and maintain a modest lighthouse.

Life at eye level can be so darn busy that I often forget to look upward. Occasionally I remember there’s a world above me. Here are a few recorded glimpses.

A whale atop Seaport Village’s Pier Cafe swims above a flying gull.Palm trees rise beside high downtown skyscrapers.Downtown skyscraper reflecting early morning sunshine.YMCA sign atop building near Emerald Plaza.Old church bell mounted on roof of Old Town’s Five and Dime General Store.Full moon behind clock tower at 12th and Imperial Transit Center.America Plaza seen through palm trees.Looking up at a shining cluster of condos and office buildings.Old clock on side of John D. Spreckels Building at Sixth and Broadway.Gazing up the curved side of the San Diego Air and Space Museum.Apex of the wood lath Botanical Building in Balboa Park.Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter building behind branches.Plane approaches San Diego International Airport high in sky during sunrise.Looking upward near Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant on Harbor Island.

The mural featured here is a very long one. It’s painted behind the park’s fenced basketball court, on a low wall that borders Interstate 5. Like the other public murals in Chicano Park, it’s a colorful hodgepodge of figures and symbols that seem to share one general theme: Mexican American pride and empowerment.